


What Was, and Will Never Be

by Runeb19



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, Developing Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Mild Description of Body Horror, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24178126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runeb19/pseuds/Runeb19
Summary: It was impossibly strange, to have such vivid memories of a future that had never happened. It was worse, though, when they refused to leave you alone.
Relationships: Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus
Kudos: 29





	What Was, and Will Never Be

**Author's Note:**

> I started a new game of DA:I and this popped into my head while I was playing. So… here! This takes place after Bull and Dorian started hooking up but before they got serious. Enjoy!

_He knew the Qunari’s name. ‘The Iron Bull’ was easy enough to remember, and the big horned bastard wasn’t exactly difficult to pick out of a lineup. But seeing him like this…_

_The red light of the corrupted Lyrium shone from behind his eyes. His body almost seemed to be decaying. He was drastically underweight, raw, ugly scars criss-crossed his ragged form. And rather than the warriors spirit that had once driven him, there now seemed to be an almost idle curiosity, a weak, flickering flame of hope that maybe things could be better._

_And then he was walking out the door, to stand against an unstoppable tide of demons. And then his corpse was being tossed onto the throne room floor, as Dorian worked as fast as he dared._

_And then they were at Skyhold, and Bull was falling again, form limp, body ravaged, no light behind his eyes._

_Nothing._

_He was falling impossibly slowly, Dorian able to see every detail of the sickly, dead Qunari, the man he-_

_“NO!!”_

Dorian sat bolt upright in bed, covered in sweat, gasping for air. The cold mountain air that permeated Skyhold pricking his skin.

“Dorian?” Came the groggy voice of The Iron Bull, propping himself up on one elbow and looking at the mage in concern.

“Wh-what? Nothing.” Dorian spoke too quickly as he tried to collect himself. “What are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing here?’” The Qunari asked, evidently amused, though the concerned look on his face hadn’t yet vanished. 

Dorian looked around, a new feeling of horror overtaking him.

“I fell asleep _here!?_ ” He asked, aghast.

“Yeah,” Bull replied, sounding mildly offended. “I did too. And I was comfortable.”

“I don’t care!”

“Thanks, Dorian.”

“I can’t believe I fell asleep in your room!”

Bull smirked. “Yes. My room. That _you_ snuck into. So maybe stop acting like I’m some terrible creature?”

Dorian glared at him, but to his credit, said nothing.

“Now, what's wrong?” Bull asked.

Dorian looked away. “It’s none of your business.”

Bull touched his arm gently. “All soldiers have nightmares sometimes. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He said softly.

“I’m not a soldier.” Dorian said dismissively, unable to summon any anger at Bull’s pity.

“No, you _shouldn’t_ be a soldier. Doesn’t change the fact that you are. You’ve been through a lot since you joined up with us.”

Dorian refused to look at him.

“You’ll feel better if you talk about it. I promise I won’t tell.”

“Stop treating me like a child!” Dorian snapped, rounding on him. His anger, as suddenly as it had flared up, died away. Bull was not looking at him with any condescension or pity. His expression bespoke simple concern. 

“I… I know the Inquisitor told you we went to the future, at Redcliffe,” Dorian said slowly, looking away again. “And that.. You were there.”

There was a moment’s silence, and then Bull chuckled softly. Dorian made to round on him, furious that he was being laughed at after admitting to his nightmare, but Bull had wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close before he got the chance.

“How is laughing at me supposed to make me feel better?” Dorian demanded, red-faced.

“Not at you,” Bull rumbled. “It’s the dream that’s funny.” Before Dorian could say anything, he was silenced by a kiss on the cheek. “Silly mage,” Bull said quietly. “You already saved me from that terrible future, remember? I’m right here.”

Dorian didn’t know what to say to that, and they remained that way for almost a full minute, not speaking. Then Bull, almost business-like, asked:

“Now, are you really going to hike all the back to your room in this frigid keep in nothing but your underwear, or are you gonna lie back down and get some sleep?”

Dorian, blushing again, mumbled his reply so quietly that Bull couldn’t possibly have heard him. Not that he needed too, in any event. Bull tightened his grip ever so slightly, and pulled Dorian back down to bed with him.

“If you need to, just imagine we’re two soldiers who have to share a cot for warmth.” Bull told him, releasing his hold.

“Does that ever actually happen?” Dorian asked, making no move to roll away from Bull and desperately hoping the Qunari didn’t notice. “It always seemed like it only happened in novels.”

“Oh yeah, happens more than you think,” Bull answered, definitely noticing that Dorian hadn’t moved as he shifted to make them both more comfortable, though the Qunari, for once, had the grace not to say anything. “There was this one time, when the Chargers and I were hunting in the mountains…”

Dorian didn’t notice his eyelids drooping down as Bull told the story, and Bull only stopped talking after Dorian had slipped into what this time was, mercifully, a dreamless sleep.


End file.
